If you're a quilter who's finishing your projects on your domestic machine, the Hera marker may be your new best friend! The Hera marker is one of my favorite quilting tools. And it's a perfect tool for anyone looking to do simple (but professional) quilting.
Keep reading for all the details!
What Is a Hera Marker?
A Hera marker is a small plastic tool from Clover. One end of the tool has a rounded thin edge that creates creases in your fabric when pressed down. It's used similar to a rotary cutter. You hold the tool in your hand and run it along your fabric to create marks.
While I use my Hera marker mostly for marking lines to follow while machine quilting, I also use it to mark diagonal lines for sewing stitch and flip units or half-square triangles, and push out corners or curves in decor projects. It's a versatile tool and the best part? It's less than $10 and you'll never have to buy refills like other marking tools!
Hera Marker Versus Other Marking Tools
Other options for marking your quilt tops include air- and water-soluble markers, as well as heat-erasable markers like a Frixion pen. Hera markers are ideal for simple quilting designs, such as straight lines or gentle curves. If you plan to quilt more intricate or traced designs, a marker is a better choice.
Hera markers have a bonus of not using any ink, so you never need to buy refills and you're not putting chemicals or visible lines on your quilt. And a quick press completely hides any marks made by a Hera marker. Air-soluble pen lines can take sometimes weeks to disappear depending on the temperature and humidity. Water-soluble markers require a quilt to be wetted or washed, which isn't always ideal depending on the quilt. And Frixion pens are known for having lines come back in cooler temperatures.
There are pros and cons to any marking tool, but I love the Hera marker the most!
How to Mark Your Quilt and Sew
You use a Hera marker in a similar way as using a rotary cutter. Position an acrylic ruler on your quilt where you'd like to mark a line. Run the Hera marker along the ruler, pressing down, to crease the quilt. A Hera marker works best on a hard surface, so you can position a cutting mat beneath it or use it on a table or hard floor.
You can mark your quilt before or after basting your quilt -- I prefer to do it after I've basted the quilt, so I can be sure the layers stay in place as I mark.
Then, you can sew along the marked lines or use the lines as a guide to machine quilt your quilt. Make sure you have good lighting while quilting, so you can clearly see the marks on your quilt.
See the video below to watch the process in action.
How Far Apart Should You Space Your Lines?
Your quilting should match the scale of your quilt. I like to use the border, sashing, or block size as a guide. For example, if the border is 4" wide, I would space my lines 4" apart. This brings a balance and cohesion to the quilt.
You can always start with lines farther apart and then quilt in-between those lines to add more quilting if you decide it's needed later.
What Types of Designs Can You Make Using a Hera Marker?
Hera markers work best for straight line, grid, or gentle curves. But just because the quilting uses simple straight lines, doesn't mean it needs to be basic!
Here are a few examples from my own quilts:
Picture 1: Straight lines across the quilt top, spaced the same width as the sashing.
(Quilt: Bear Necessities)
Picture 2: Straight lines across the quilt, sewn with the serpentine stitch to make wavy lines while quilting (a standard stitch on many machines!). (Quilt: Book Club)
Picture 3: Straight lines diagonally in two directions across the quilt to form a grid.
(Quilt: Spellbound Sampler)
Picture 4: Straight lines across the quilt, then freehand quilted with gentle curves using the straight lines as a guide. (Quilt: Scrappy Star)
Picture 5: Straight lines in a zigzag and diamond pattern to accentuate the block centers and sashing. (Quilt: Scrap Happy by Christa Watson)
I hope you give the Hera marker a try! It's one of my favorite tools and gives me the confidence to quilt my quilts myself on my basic domestic sewing machine.
Thanks for joining me for "happy hour,"
Lindsay
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